THE SPICE GIRLS

Welcome to my spice girls group page.

This is a picture taken from Spice World: The Movie.

After dominating the charts in Britain, the Spice Girls decided to dominate the world in 1997. With the intensity of New Kids On The Block and the intrigue of Milli Vanilli, the Spice Girls were one of the most loved and most hated new pop sensations of 1997.

The Spice Girls formed in 1994. Four of the five females responded to an advertisement looking for five "lively girls" for a musical group ("R. U. 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? R.U. streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated?").
Five girls were selected and formed into a band called Touch. Soon after, a member named Michelle had to quit for family and personal reasons. This allowed the fifth member (Emma) to join the group. The name was then changed to the Spice Girls and they split with the managers who had joined them as a group. The girls spent 2 years looking for a record contract that would allow them equal status in the group (and not with one defined leader). Eventually, the Spice Girls found a manager, signed with Virgin Records, and collaborated on songs.

The Spice Girls have made it a routine to express their feminism with their "Girl Power." Striking their independence while having fun with their success, the Spice Girls often laugh at their critics and keep singing and dancing while they are young and in demand. Before the fame, and even before hooking up as a group, some of the Spice Girls were already making career moves. Melanie Brown (Mel B), the one with the pierced tongue often displayed to photographers, appeared on a British soap opera. Emma Bunton was a child model and continues this vein with her "sweet and innocent," often pig-tailed persona. Geri Halliwell was a model (including nudes) and aerobic instructor. Victoria Addams, the one who doesn't smile, hails from a very wealthy family. Melanie Chisholm (Mel C) is most notably the most athletic member of the group and was once a ballet dancer and session singer.



Their first single "Wannabe" topped the British charts in 1996 and was quickly followed by two more #1's: "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1." Their debut LP Spice was released at the end of 1996. The U.S. invasion began in 1997 with a #1 single ("Wannabe") and LP. In February, the Spice Girls won Best Video for "Say You'll Be There" and Best Single for "Wannabe" at the Brit pop awards. The escapades of the Girls and their "Girl Power" has been getting more press than the royal family recently. Ginger/Sexy Spice can be found all around the Internet sporting her birthday suit from her prior modeling experiences. Scary Spice has been showing the world her pierced tongue so much that rumors of lock-jaw are popping up. The Girls also stirred up Maori leaders in April, 1997, when they performed a native war dance move only men were allowed to dance. "It is totally inappropriate," Joe Harawira of the Urban Maorian Authorities told reporters. "It is not acceptable in our culture, and especially by girlie pop stars from another culture." The following month, the girls were said to be a bit too flirtatious with Prince Charles after performing for the Prince's Trust charity concert.

Their debut LP, Spice has sold over 18 million copies worldwide (over 6 million copies in the U.S. alone) and spawned 2 #1 hits in the U.S.: "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There" and the Top 10 "2 Become 1."
In February, the Spice Girls shared their thoughts about fame with MTV: Melanie B said "You can do what you want in this group, it's great! You can be as mad as you want, as normal as you want or as loud or as proud as you want!" "And be whoever you wanna be!" bandmate Emma added. Victoria added, "Just be happy, have a laugh so if you want you can run up and down with no clothes on, but if you do feel the need to all of a sudden do that... feel free." The Spice Girls inked a lucrative deal with Pepsi to appear in television commercials and also launched their own fragrance. The girls reportedly made over $47 million in the past year. The Spice Girls won Best Dance Video for "Wannabe" at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and toned down their giddiness long enough to dedicate the award to Princess Diana. The girls also dedicated their performance to Princess Diana and described her as having true "girl power."

When gearing up for their next LP release, Spiceworld, the girls spoke of the new LP: Ginger Spice says its "...a fantasy album... we've taken everything to the max." The LP will also show some musical maturity - Sporty Spice stated: "some of the material from the other album was 3 years old." The first single release has been delayed (to allow Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" to reign at Number 1 for awhile). "Spice Up Your Life" gave Elton 6 weeks before it debuted at #1 in Britain toward the end of October becoming the first band in Britain to have their first 5 hits top the charts and 4 in a row debut at #1.
A home video of the Spice Girls was released on October 28th and Spiceworld will arrive in the U.S. on November 4th. The girls will also perform for Nelson Mandela and Prince Charles in Johannesburg on November 1st as part of the "Two Nations Concert." The Spice Girls played their first full live concert on Sunday (10-12) in Istanbul. Over 11,000 Pepsi contest winners were privy to the hour-plus concert. An organizer of the event said, "They were really exited before the gig, they were jumping up and down like little girls on my bed in the hotel." The Spice Girls will be extended their tour to include the world next year.

Spice Girl products will also be hitting stores including dolls, lollipops, cakes, potato chips, and "Scary Spice Pizza." At the 4th annual MTV Europe Music Awards held in the Netherlands on November 6th, 1997,the Spice Girls won for Best Group. Also in November, 1997, the Spice Girls took more control over their careers by firing their manager, Simon Fuller. Fuller has managed the girls for the past 2 years but was not one of the original managers who brought the girls together and established the Spice Girls. British tabloids have reported that relationship problems between Fuller and Baby Spice, and personality problems between Fuller and Ginger Spice, may have initiated his departure.

The Spice Girls were booed of stage in mid-November in Barcelona. As reported by Billboard, the girls lip-synched their new hit "Spice Up Your Life" at the Premios Ondas Awards to a crowd of industry insiders. The boos and jeers directed at the girls were a result of the announcement that the girls would not come on stage until photographers had left the room (reportedly a stipulation in their contract). More bad news for the girls this week came from U.S. LP sales. Their new LP debuted on the Billboard LP charts at #8 while their new single "Spice Up Your Life" is still outside the Top 10 after 3 weeks. Bigger numbers for records sales and chart positions were expected around the world. In December, '97, the Spice Girls got even more exposure with the release of the video Spice Exposed in the U.S. The video contains numerous nude photos of Ginger Spice, the brassy redhead who recently stirred up controversy when she did not bow to the Queen of England fearing that she would "bust" out her dress. The video also takes a look at the other Spice Girls. The photos of Ginger Spice were taken when she was 19 during her career as a go-go dancer. SoundScan (which Billboard magazine uses for their charts) announced a list of the Top Selling LPs of 1997 and Spice by the Spice Girls was the biggest with sales totaling 5.3 million in the U.S.

The Spice Girls are on top again, but not where they might like to be - atop in the infamous "Worst-Dressed List". Mr. Blackwell said of the girls; "The only spices on the planet that have no taste." The Spice Girls' movie Spice World opened in the U.S. in January but wasn't able to stop the unsinkable Titanic. Spice World took in an estimated $11 million which was higher than expected and set a new record for a movie opening during a Super Bowl weekend. The movie also helped their new LP move up to a new peak of #3 on the U.S. LP charts. The same week, the Spice Girls learned that their pay-per-view concert last December received the most viewers since Woodstock '94 and more than the Rolling Stones concert. At the 1998 American Music Awards held on Jan. 26th, the Spice Girls were nominated for 3 awards and took all 3 home: Favorite Band Rock/Pop, Favorite New Artist, and Favorite Album. At the Brit Awards on February 9th, the Spice Girls were honored for outstanding LP sales. At the 1998 World Music Awards held in Monte Carlo on May 6th, the Spice Girls won World's Best-Selling Pop Artist/Group and Best-Selling British Artist/Group.

In late May it was reported that gastroenteritis and not cat-fighting that caused Ginger Spice to miss a few live performances in Norway says a Spice Girls spokesperson. The reports of Ginger having a stomach bug were reported after British tabloids reported that she quit the group after a dispute with the other girls. But on May 31st, Ginger Spice (aka Geri Halliwell) confirmed that she is leaving the group due to differences with the other 4 girls, who also confirmed Sunday that the up-coming performances around the world will continue. Halliwell stated: "Sadly, I would like to confirm I have left the Spice Girls... this is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best." The remaining Spice Girls also issued a statement: "We are upset and saddened by Geri's departure but we are very supportive in whatever she wants to do. The Spice Girls are here to stay. See you at the stadiums... friendship never ends." Posh Spice later said: "If Geri walked through the door now we would all be like 'Hello.' It would be like friends meeting up. It's not nasty, we've all said that. We all love each other and we all love Geri."

© 1997 bethany777@hotmail.com

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